BRIDGEWATER - Fielding questions ranging from Russia to President Donald Trump and the electoral college to immigration, Rep. Leonard Lance conducted his 46th town hall on Saturday with some 400 constituents in the auditorium of the township's middle school.

Lance, a Republican representing New Jersey's vast 7th Congressional District, kicked off the town hall by discussing his voting in favor of the budget bill that passed with bi-partisan support on Friday to continue the funding of the federal government.

"A majority of Republicans voted for the bill and we were joined by many of the Democrats, although not a majority of the Democrats," he said. "It will fund the government for several weeks until the 23rd of March and then it is a two-year blue print for budgetary matters in the United States over the course of the next several years."

Lance said that federal defense spending will increase by $80 billion under the budget plan and discretionary domestic spending will increase by $63 billion in the first year. In the second year, $85 billion will go toward defense and $68 billion toward domestic.

The budget will fund community health centers across the country, he said, which are "very important to this congressional district, we have quite a few community health centers."

Lance's district includes allof Hunterdon County and portions of Morris, Somerset, Warren and Union counties as well as Millburn and Short Hills in Essex County. Since President Trump's election, his town halls, once fairly subdued affairs, have drawn large numbers — sometimes upwards of 1,000 people, often with many hammering the Republican about the president's policies.

A number of Democrats are vying to run against Lance in November, and nationwide, his seat is seen as one of the most vulnerable for the current Republican majority.

Rep. Leonard Lance at his 46th town hall in Bridgewater.(Photo: Nick Muscavage/Staff Photo)

Lance said the he also voted for this budget because "there is funding within that bill to combat opiate abuse."

With so many pharmaceuticals operating out of New Jersey, Lance referred to the state as the "medicine chest of the world" and said that "we all have a responsibility to overcome the crisis of opioid addiction, and that includes not over prescribing medicines, and I think that has occurred in this country."

Lance also updated his constituents on a bill he recently proposed, which is referred to as the AIRWAVES Act. The bill, which he proposed last week along with Congressman Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania, aims to provide 5G wireless Internet service to rural parts of the country by freeing up portions of the electromagnetic spectrum to encourage the federal government to auction off larger amounts of the spectrum to wireless providers.

Lance, who was elected to Congress in 2008, also responded to questions that he said he has never been asked before. One was whether he believed the electoral college is still necessary. His answer: No.

"I have never gotten this question at a town hall meeting, and I am actually very pleased to get it," Lance said.

Lance said that his father was the president of the New Jersey electoral college in 1968 and he testified before Congress suggesting that the electoral college be done away with in favor of the direct election of presidents by popular vote.

"I tend to agree with that position," Lance said to applause.

As with his past town halls, it was only a matter of time before Russia was brought up by a constituent.

Lance was asked by an Alexandria Township woman if members of the House of Representatives are taking any actions to "protect the integrity of our elections from Russian interference."

Lance responded by saying that he "favors the Russian sanctions, voted for the Russian sanctions, and, if we need to make them stronger, I would vote for that."

He also said, to applause, that Trump "should put into place the sanctions that the Congress of the United States had suggested," adding that he recently sent a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recommending just that.

He called Russia "a bad actor" and said that the country "continues to be a bad actor."

Some members of the audience, however, pressed Lance to have a stronger response against Trump's handling of Russia, and yelled to the Congressman to "introduce legislation" on the matter because "the president is silence on this."

A Clinton Township woman asked Lance what his views were regarding Trump's overall demeanor and behavior.

"I believe that it would be fair to say that my personality and that of President Trump's — that our personalities are not only not the same — but our personalities are quite different," Lance said. "And I believe the president would be better served if he tweeted far less than he does."

Some laughter broke out in the auditorium.

Lance said that he understands that Trump tweets to reach out directly to the American people, but that the president "tweets too much and, on occasions, I think he tweets inappropriately."

President Donald Trump(Photo: Mike Theiler/CNP, TNS)

A Somerville woman pressed Lance on his opinion of the latest White House developments regarding Rob Porter, a top aide to president Trump who did not have full security clearance and who left his post this week after several allegations of domestic abuse.

Trump drew some criticism from his comments on the Porter situation.

"We found out about it recently and I was surprised by it, but we certainly wish him well and it's a tough time for him," Trump said of Porter on Friday. "He did a very good job when he was in the White House."

Lance, without directly naming names, said that he does not believe "that person should have ever been hired" and it was "entirely appropriate that he leaves the White House."

Prompted on his views on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and immigration issues, Lance said the he supports a pathway to citizenship for DACA Dreamers and signed onto at least two bills that he said would reform DACA.

People currently enrolled in DACA "came to this country with their parents, came as infants or as children," he said, "and I do not want them to remain in the situation where they are at the moment."

He said he hopes that Congress can address this issue in the first week of March. He does, however, supports citizenship being granted to Dreamers under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Lance also was one of the 12 Republican members of Congress to vote against the tax cut.

Some have attributed to the recent drops in the stock market to inflationary worries from the tax cut.

"I believe that there was a correction in the market this week, and corrections do occur, but I hope that the economy can improve and I didn't vote for the tax bill because I don't want to exacerbate the federal deficit in this country," he said," and also there's the important issue of the continued deductibility of state and local taxes here in New Jersey."